French President Emmanuel Macron has called on Beijing to rebalance the trade relationship after meetings with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.

“Europe and China have a role to play in laying, alongside other partners, the foundations for fair and robust global economic governance based on rules and not the law of the strongest,” Macron said at a joint news conference with Xi on Dec. 4.

Macron said the European Union should undertake reforms to enhance its competitiveness. China, he said, should work to boost domestic consumption while increasing its direct investment in the EU, particularly in France.

“The imbalances that are accumulating today are unsustainable,” Macron said. “They pose a risk of financial crises. They imperil our ability to grow together.”

Macron is on a three-day visit to China. A focus of his trip is addressing France’s trade deficit with China, which has almost doubled over the past decade.

The trade gap with Beijing has long been a cause of concern for the EU, as it continues to grow. In the first 10 months of this year, China shipped goods worth $461 billion to the EU while importing $219 billion from the bloc, according to China’s customs data. The resulting surplus of $242 billion was nearly 19 percent higher than the statistics recorded for the same period in 2024.

During the meeting, Xi pledged to import more “high-quality products” made in France and encouraged Macron to strengthen cooperation with China in areas such as aerospace, artificial intelligence, and biopharmaceuticals, according to China’s summary of the meeting.

Officials from the two countries signed 12 cooperation agreements covering nuclear energy, agricultural products, education, and other fields.

After the summit, Xi and Macron also attended the closing ceremony of the China–France Business Council meeting.

Addressing business representatives from both countries, Xi said China views France as “an important and indispensable economic and trade partner,” according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In encouraging France to promote cooperation between China and the EU, Xi said “interdependency” and “convergent interests” are not a risk or threat, according to the ministry.

Macron’s visit came amid rising trade tensions between the EU and China over issues such as Beijing’s massive state subsidies and policy support for its electric vehicle sector. Brussels has determined that the Chinese regime’s trade practices caused injuries to its automakers and, in October 2024, imposed additional tariffs on electric vehicles made in China.

In retaliation, Beijing set a minimum price requirement for most of France’s cognac products and slapped provisional duties on pork shipped from the EU. The CCP’s commerce ministry is conducting an anti-dumping review of dairy products originating from the EU.

Earlier this year, the CCP introduced stringent export controls on rare earths and other critical metals, disrupting global supply chains vital to the EU’s semiconductor and auto industries and sparking calls in Brussels to reduce reliance on China.

Ukraine

Speaking alongside Xi after the bilateral meeting, Macron reiterated the appeal, saying that he hoped that China could join the EU’s efforts to achieve “at the earliest possibility, at the very least a cease-fire in the form of a moratorium on strikes targeting critical infrastructure.”

Xi offered no clear assurance, saying only that Beijing supports a fair and binding agreement that can be reached by all parties regarding the Ukraine crisis.

In an apparent reference to the West’s criticism of the CCP’s support for Russia’s war efforts, Xi said Beijing opposes any “attempt to shift blame or smear others.”

Although Chinese officials have claimed that they support peace, the United States and its NATO allies have said that Beijing is sending machine tools, chips, and other materials that have both civilian and military uses to help rebuild Moscow’s defense sector. Ukraine has repeatedly accused the CCP of supplying Moscow with weapons and gunpowder amid the ongoing invasion.

Macron is set to meet with Xi again on Dec. 5 in Chengdu, a southwestern Chinese city known for its giant panda breeding center. The CCP has been known to use panda diplomacy—gifting or lending these animals to zoos across France, the United States, and other nations—as a way to enhance its international image.

Reuters contributed to this report.